This month we are taking a closer look at Feed Your Instinct, a free interactive tool providing practical tips and guidance for parents and caregivers of children and young people experiencing eating and/or body image problems.

Feed Your Instinct’s content is broken into four modules:

Eating:

this module looks at eating patterns, food choices and attitudes towards nutrition.

Wellbeing:

this module looks at physical health and unhelpful weight control behaviours.

Thinking:

this module looks at thinking patterns and personality traits.

Feeling:

this module looks at relationships and social interactions.

Each modules aims to help parents and caregivers determine if they should to be concerned about their child, understand what might be happening for them, and learn how to best support them.  This may include practical tools for caregivers to support their child at home and to seek professional support, such as a food and behaviour log, problem solving skills and motivational interviewing resources.

At the end of each module is an eating and body image checklist which is used to generate a personalised report with a summary of the information and suggested strategies. FYI also generates a printable summary which can be shared with a health practitioner.

Parents and caregivers can access the full range of practical tools through the Feed Your Instinct Toolkit. They also have the option to navigate directly to the checklist without having to complete the modules.

Feed Your Instinct is designed to support parents and caregivers of children and young people at risk of developing an eating disorder. It was developed specifically to aid parents and caregivers in seeking information and assistance for their children’s eating and body image problems.

Feed Your Instinct is helping parents and caregivers of children and young people to overcome common challenges with seeking assistance. It is improving parents and caregivers understanding of eating disorders, the warning signs and how to seek support. By promoting early intervention and faster access to treatment, it supports better outcomes for young people experiencing eating or body image concerns.

Health Practitioners could recommend Feed Your Instinct to parents or caregivers concerned about their children. It can be used as a screening tool to help identify potential issues early, guiding families toward appropriate next steps. Additionally, practitioners can suggest it as a supportive resource between sessions, providing parents with evidence-based information and practical strategies to reinforce their child’s care plan.

Feed Your Instinct is free to use at any time.

Feed Your Instinct is available online at https://feedyourinstinct.com.au/.

Feed Your Instinct has been developed with expertise from health professionals, and informed by research. It’s development aligns with research emphasizing the importance of early intervention and parental involvement in addressing eating disorders. For instance, studies have shown that family meals are associated with better dietary intake and reduced risk of disordered eating behaviours among adolescents^{1, 2}. Additionally, FYI provides parents with guidance on recognising warning signs of eating disorders, which is crucial given that early identification can lead to more effective treatment outcomes³.

¹ Neumark-Sztainer, D., Eisenberg, M. E., Fulkerson, J. A., Story, M., & Larson, N. I. (2008). Family meals and disordered eating in adolescents: longitudinal findings from project EAT. Archives of pediatrics & adolescent medicine, 162(1), 17-22.

² Neumark-Sztainer, D., Wall, M., Story, M., & Fulkerson, J. A. (2004). Are family meal patterns associated with disordered eating behaviors among adolescents?. Journal of adolescent health, 35(5), 350-359.

³ Koreshe, E., Paxton, S., Miskovic-Wheatley, J., Bryant, E., Le, A., Maloney, D., … & Maguire, S. (2023). Prevention and early intervention in eating disorders: findings from a rapid review. Journal of eating disorders, 11(1), 38.